The Privilege of Dating

Following Xia Mi's lead, he put on a show of procuring a crate of Frigg Bullets and two rifles, then spent the entire afternoon squatting in the office and loading magazines. It was all in preparation for Day of Freedom.

Back in his dormitory to rest, Li Lin browsed the Night Watchers Forum on his laptop.

The results of this Word Spirit test had surprisingly not been spread everywhere by Fingel.

At Xia Mi's hint, Li Lin had also realized that his ability to control elements could easily lead to a misjudgment from the Executive Department. So after playing Left 4 Dead for a while, he headed down to Dorm 303 and found Fingel picking at his feet on his bed.

In Li Lin's mind, Fingel held the same position as the Earth God in Journey to the West. Every middle school, even every university, always had an old hand who had spent years learning every unspoken rule and figuring out the ways of the world. He outlasted batch after batch of fresh dough, until both the cooks and customers had no choice but to hold their noses and let him float in the hot oil, picking up whatever news he could.

The dorm was thick with a complicated blend of kimchi, chili peppers, and instant noodle seasoning. Fingel had just finished picking at his feet and was about to smell his fingers when he saw Li Lin suddenly push open the door. His hand froze in midair, with nowhere to put itself.

Fortunately, Fingel's skin was as thick as a city wall. He wiped his hand on his T-shirt and asked Li Lin what he needed.

"Senior, how did I do in this test? I heard before that someone in the Executive Department suspected I could turn into a Dead Servant at any time."

Hearing that, Fingel gave Li Lin a thumbs-up.

"Just basic S-Rank bloodline stuff. Don't worry. Sure, your ability to knead concrete like putty is a little shocking, but none of the S-Ranks in the school's history were ordinary people. Among those unparalleled old freaks, you're only a rookie little freak."

"Could you give me an example?"

"At his peak at seventeen, Jotaro Kujo could only stop time for five seconds. The headmaster is nearly a hundred and forty, and he claims he can stop time for five minutes."

"What an unparalleled old freak."

Li Lin said it from the bottom of his heart.

What Fingel did not tell Li Lin was that, while the school's history and even the Secret Party's history had indeed been filled with monsters, no one had been able to wield their Word Spirit as effortlessly as Li Lin when they were sixteen or had only just awakened it.

Sometimes there was no point in making things too clear. Fingel did not believe Li Lin could possibly be a dragon. There was no craving for power or strength in the preparatory student's eyes; he was simply focused on enjoying the process of improving himself. His powerful humanity had kicked the savagery and desires of Dragon Race genes clean away.

Fingel did not want to burden the boy, who was bound to become a master dragon slayer, so he chuckled and changed the subject.

"Everyone's been talking about Day of Freedom lately. Our Martial Arts Club's vice president must have heard about it already."

"Yeah. Boss Caesar has even put up a reward. Whoever in the Student Union wins Day of Freedom, he's willing to pay for the right to use Norton Hall."

"There are a lot of formidable freshmen this year. Add in that kind of free-for-all environment, and even the boss can't guarantee he'll last until the end." Fingel scratched his greasy hair. "But haven't you heard anyone mention the most important winner's reward for Day of Freedom?"

"Hmm?"

Li Lin paused. He had heard some rather outrageous rumors, but he had assumed they were all made up.

Seeing that, Fingel launched into an enthusiastic explanation.

"The student who wins Day of Freedom can pursue the first girl he likes at the academy in the future, and she can't refuse. They also have to maintain the relationship for at least three months."

"Of course, that only establishes a relationship in name. If there are disputes or conflicts, or if the girl isn't willing and they end up looking united while being apart at heart, nobody will say anything... But under normal circumstances, no one would reject an outstanding Mixed-Blood whose combat power could top the entire school."

"And most importantly, after Day of Freedom comes the beauty pageant organized by the vice headmaster. So the winner can just sweep away the most popular girl in the school."

"..."

Listening to Fingel's saliva-spraying introduction, Li Lin found himself somewhat interested. He was in his adolescence, after all. Under the influence of hormones, it was hard not to be curious about and yearn for topics like romance.

But did he desperately want to fall in love... He did not seem that repressed.

Whenever Li Lin occasionally dreamed of a girl, it was always Xia Mi charging straight at him with her fists raised. Even in his dreams, he had to review why he had failed to block or evade some of Xia Mi's simple, crude probing moves.

There was no helping it. It was too humiliating.

Never mind what kind of Mixed-Blood or martial arts prodigy Xia Mi was. At least when she stood across from him, she looked like nothing more than a thin, slender little girl.

To fight an evenly matched battle against a peer whose physique was far inferior to his, while the Dragon-Slaying Binding System kept throwing up notification windows—Li Lin simply could not get over it.

On one hand, he thoroughly enjoyed the exhilaration of leveling up automatically. On the other, every punch and kick from that little girl hurt so much he could barely breathe, making him feel utterly embarrassed...

His train of thought came to an abrupt halt. Li Lin suddenly remembered Xia Mi's increasingly strong possessiveness lately, along with the obvious panic and irritation she displayed in all sorts of situations.

If I win Day of Freedom and hold that winner's privilege in my hand, could I use it to keep Xia Mi in line and stop her from dragging me out to fight at every turn?

Especially now that Li Lin's bloodline had awakened, he felt certain he could beat Xia Mi. It was just hard to ensure he would not lose composure while fighting her. Once that little girl threw a punch, no matter how good his expression management was, the pain would make it collapse instantly.

As for taking the opportunity to say he wanted to date Xia Mi... The two of them had grown up together and had long understood each other's thoughts perfectly. If Li Lin really did that, Xia Mi would probably just burst out laughing, then openly hold his hand and go to school with him every day.

That would be far too boring. It would be better to win Day of Freedom, then try saying, "I've met a senior girl I like," and observe Xia Mi's reaction.

"Junior, you look like you're already fantasizing about dating a beautiful girl."

"I don't have such lowbrow interests. Senior, do you know if the school has any training facilities specifically for Mixed-Bloods? I need to adapt as quickly as possible to the physical improvements brought by my awakened bloodline."

Hearing that, Fingel hurriedly jumped off the bed.

"There's plenty of that stuff. The Equipment Department drops all kinds of mysterious fitness equipment around campus every week, but basically nobody uses it, so it's practically brand-new. The problem now is that even if you make it to the end, it seems like you still can't beat Xia Mi. I've watched your combat footage. Most of the time, Xia Mi just calmly chases you down and beats the hell out of you... I'm just saying, can you really win?"

"Don't worry, Senior. I'll definitely win."